Climate adaptation underpins the SDGs

This briefing by the Climate Bonds Initiative explores the critical role of climate adaptation and resilience in infrastructure investments to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It highlights the current investment gap in the green bond market, where adaptation is significantly underfunded compared to mitigation, and proposes principles for improving definitions and disclosure to scale capital mobilization.

• Climate adaptation and resilience are essential for the successful implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as climate change is described as the "single biggest threat to development". These measures must address both chronic climate stress, such as sea level rise and water stress, and acute risks, including extreme weather events like floods and wildfires.
• There is a significant investment requirement for climate adaptation and resilience in developing countries, estimated by the UN to be between US$140 billion and US$300 billion per year by 2030, increasing to between US$280 billion and US$500 billion annually by 2050.
• The green bond market is heavily skewed toward climate mitigation, with only 3-5% of proceeds allocated to adaptation and resilience. This imbalance is attributed to a limited understanding of what qualifies as adaptation investment and the fact that mitigation impacts are easier to quantify using established metrics.
• The water sector currently has the highest share of adaptation and resilience integration within the green bond market. Examples of issuers include Cape Town in South Africa, various US municipalities (such as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation), DC Water in the US, K-Water in Korea, and NWB Bank in the Netherlands.
• Adaptation and resilience are underrepresented in other major green bond segments. Low-carbon buildings (24% of the market) and low-carbon transport (15% of the market) primarily focus on energy efficiency and emission reductions rather than resilience, though some exceptions exist, such as Sweden's Östersund municipality and Hong Kong MTR.
• Development banks and financial corporates are the primary issuers of green bonds allocating proceeds to adaptation and resilience. In contrast, non-financial corporates are underrepresented, accounting for only 5% of adaptation and resilience proceeds despite making up 19% of overall green bond issuance.
• To scale investment, the document proposes three principles for adaptation and resilience definitions: integrating them with existing mitigation definitions, basing them on the latest climate science regarding physical impacts, and distinguishing between 'adaptation' (adjustment to a changing environment) and 'resilience' (the ability to anticipate and bounce back from impacts).

APA

Climate Bonds Initiative (2018). Climate adaptation underpins the SDGs. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Why-making-infrastructure-climate-adapted-and-resilient-will-help-meet-the-SDGs_2025-02-17-163150_ffgm.pdf

Chicago

Climate Bonds Initiative. Climate adaptation underpins the SDGs. 2018. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Why-making-infrastructure-climate-adapted-and-resilient-will-help-meet-the-SDGs_2025-02-17-163150_ffgm.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate Bonds Initiative |title=Climate adaptation underpins the SDGs |date=July 2018 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Why-making-infrastructure-climate-adapted-and-resilient-will-help-meet-the-SDGs_2025-02-17-163150_ffgm.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climatebondsinitiative2018climate, author = {{Climate Bonds Initiative}}, title = {{Climate adaptation underpins the SDGs}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2018}, month = jul, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/Why-making-infrastructure-climate-adapted-and-resilient-will-help-meet-the-SDGs_2025-02-17-163150_ffgm.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }